


come on, snake, let's rattle

by sleazyjanet



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, F/F, Funny, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, comphet but like, it's only implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27386437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleazyjanet/pseuds/sleazyjanet
Summary: The slang "come on, snake, let's rattle" has two meanings and Kya and Lin soon learn that what one believes to be an invitation to dance, the other takes it as one to fight.
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Kya II
Comments: 13
Kudos: 134





	come on, snake, let's rattle

* * *

Lin didn’t like alcohol.

Yes, it gave her a buzz, but there was nothing Lin liked more than control. Alcohol made her lose it. Her temper, her solidity. She often found herself wandering around without a purpose when under the influence, her thoughts unclear and actions unaccounted for, and as a cop there weren’t many instances when she could let her judgment get clouded.

So, she vowed not to drink.

But it had been a harsh few months for Lin. Years, really, if she was being true to herself. Decades if she was feeling bitter.

Life just kept knocking her off her feet and, frankly, a part of her felt like not standing up again. At least, before, she’d always had Tenzin to watch her get up and fight, had Tenzin to come home to. Or even her mother to turn to when she hit the roughest of points. With both of them gone, what was left?

Alcohol. Newfound friend.

All she had left was the burn of the drink in her throat and the tears threatening to fall that she disguised as being caused by the drink, if anyone asked.

Not that anyone did.

If there was anything everyone knew, was not to approach the newly appointed Chief of Police, even out of her work clothes and in a training undershirt instead, sporting pants so baggy it was a wonder they kept up. Not even the soft lights of the bar and the music ringing about could soften her edges, the shots she downed actually only sharpening her up.

With her steady figure sitting at the bar, the bartender had to take orders from afar.

“Pass me another shot of spirit water.”

It wasn’t certain how many she’d had already, but it’s not like anyone was counting, right?

“I’ve known spirit water to be rather different, usually,” a voice behind her said in a teasing tilt. “And I’ve never seen anyone down a solid six shots of it, that’s impressive.”

Someone was counting, then.

_ “Kya.” _

“Lin!” the waterbender slid onto the seat next to her, offering a knowing smirk, then turned to the terrified bartender with a wink. “Give me a double Kyoshi. Make her strong and sexy, like the original.”

“Ugh,” Lin rolled her eyes, “do you always have to be like this?”

Kya blinked seductively, leaning over the booth to have a better look at Lin’s scowl. “Like what?”

“Annoying.”

“Ouch, that hurt,” the older woman said, laughing to make sure Lin knew she was quipping. “I’m sorry, I’ll stop being naughty, but only if you promise me that’ll be your last drink.” Lin raised a questioning eyebrow. “Downing six shots in the span of half an hour is not healthy, Lin. I say this as a healer.”

“What, have you been watching me?”

“Will you kill me if I say yes?”

“Maybe.”

“Then no, I was just making deductions based on the six empty glasses on the counter.”

Lin frowned, the lie not lost on her, but she wasn’t in the mood for arguing. Frankly, she wasn’t in the mood for much in general and the alcohol had done nothing to settle the pain in her heart, rather enhancing it.

Spirits, she felt like throwing up – though that perhaps was also caused by the booze.

She shook her head, unwillingly turning her attention back to the waterbender whose knowing smirk was so taunting, Lin felt like wiping it off. The how was still uncertain.

“What?” she snapped, hoping the sniping tone might work well enough to unsettle the older woman, but it only widened her smirk, an annoying glint in her bright eyes.

“Nothing,” Kya shrugged, taking a long sip of her drink. “I wanted to congratulate you, actually.  _ Chief, _ is that correct?”

“I’m not in the mood, Kya.” Though her words were sharp, the influence of the alcohol turned her voice soft and broken. She felt so small and Kya’s presence was overwhelming. “Please, just… you know. I’m not in the mood.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, and she meant it, her hand laying softly on Lin’s exposed arm. Surprisingly, Lin relaxed under her comforting touch, her gaze glazed over by the alcohol — but so did Kya and the drink had made her bolder, or perhaps she always was, as she squeezed the exposed skin and whistled. “Holy spirits, you’ve got muscles. Tenzin is such an idiot for giving you up!”

Lin shoved the hand away with a groan. “Don’t go there.”

“Please, Lin,” Kya murmured, shoving her with a grin, “you’re so  _ strong. _ I bet you could lift me up onto this counter with no problem.”

“I could also punch you, that’d shut you up.”

The older woman rolled her eyes. “I’m sure we’d find more pleasurable activities for—,” Lin’s warning glare zipped her up, but unlike what the bartender would have expected the waterbender to do, which was simply giving up and leaving the annoyed metalbender alone, Kya went back to the previous topic. “Tenzin is a fucking asshole.”

“Yes, Kya, but—.”

“You deserved so much better. Cheating! Tenzin fucking cheated! I can’t believe him.” She shook her head angrily. “Cheaters don’t deserve anything, I can tell you as much,” she added firmly, pouting as though she was remembering some sour events, flashes of relationships come and gone. Lin wasn’t sure if this was her cue to lay a hand on Kya’s, but she did, the smile earned from Kya softening  _ something _ within her. “I kicked his ass for hurting you, if that makes you feel better.”

She arched an eyebrow. “You did?”

“I couldn’t help it. And I’m so proud of you for destroying some of his stupid little island. Can’t believe he even gets one, all for the  _ airbenders _ , as if he isn’t the only one! At least you now made it smaller.”

“As big as he deserves it to be,” Lin agreed.

“Spirits, he’s such a dumbass.”

“Sure is.”

“I really can’t even figure out why he’d do it.”

Lin shrugged, motioning for the bartender to bring her another shot and ignoring Kya's concerned gaze. Kya was  _ not _ the boss of her, and she couldn’t decide whether Lin drank or not. Though she didn’t drink often, she didn’t react too terribly to large amounts of spirit water. And, frankly, if she had to listen to more of Kya’s chattering, she needed the buzz in her head to grow louder. Louder than the music, louder than the memories of all the times she’d forced herself to be someone she wasn’t simply to be with Tenzin.

She’d put all of herself into that relationship, gave him all and even more. Why  _ had _ he gone and cheated on her with a woman so young? Why had he destroyed all those foundations she’d spent years building? She knew she was hard to love, but she’d thought— it didn’t matter what she’d thought.

She clenched her fists and blinked away the tears, her gaze locking with Kya’s genuinely worried one.

“Fuck if I know.”

“Well,” Kya offered a smile that turned teasing as a thought began rattling in her mind, “I can assure you that if I were him, I would never give you up. You’re truly a catch, Chief Beifong.”

“Ugh, don’t call me that. That’s my  _ mother’s  _ title.”

“And yours,” Kya took another sip of her Kyoshi, then added, “I’m sure I’d fuck you better than Tenzin, make you forget him in a whiff.” Lin tilted her head in shock. “Come on, I’m sure I’m better than him in bed.”

Lin half-snorted, half-scoffed, failing to gather her thoughts. This woman was impossible, whether she meant it or not. “I wouldn’t know.”

Kya leaned over, her hot breath ghosting over Lin’s ear as she murmured. “D’you want to test it out?”

Lin tensed, pausing to breathe in sharply before seething, “No.”

“Aw, you’ll be missing out,” the waterbender made a show of sliding away from Lin, her arms spreading into an exaggerated shrug.

Lin didn’t deign to answer that, but allowed Kya to pester her some more. The tall waterbender thus ordered herself another glass of Kyoshi and a side of Yangchen with a special Air Nomad lime as she related her new life at the South Pole. It was not the life Kya had ever wanted to sign up for, her free Nomadic spirit thriving more in the wild than in secure places, but ever since Aang’s passing over a year ago, Kya had found herself bound by duty.

She didn’t seem to complain too much, though, instead talking of her conquests and teasingly lamenting Lin not being part of them.

As a joke, of course. There was no doubt in Lin’s heart that Kya didn’t, under any circumstance, mean it. She was most likely just doing it to later boast about it to Tenzin. The mighty conquest! Chief Lin Beifong, recently broken up from Councilor Tenzin.

Yes, that’d be a story.

Lin soured at the thought, tensing under Kya’s playful gaze that she couldn’t find herself tearing away from, steely eyes meeting warm ones. Kya said something, but Lin couldn’t hear, the booze finally having gotten the better of her senses and having clouded her thoughts.

“Hey!” The snap of Kya’s fingers zapped Lin out of her boozed haze, blinking. “Did you hear me at all?”

Lin winced. “Come again?”

Kya rolled her eyes, waving her hand around as though inviting Lin to listen to the tune of the music – it was a new one, much more relaxed than earlier. Rather sappy, if Lin said it herself. She wasn’t sure why the older woman wanted her to listen to it, but the slow tune was only poison for her already sour mood.

She scowled.

“Oh, don’t give me that look, Chief Cranky Pants,” Kya shoved her playfully, making a show of standing up as she grabbed Lin’s hand, the metalbender still seated firmly, a confused look upon her sharp features. “Come on, snake, let’s rattle!”

Lin paused, blinking repeatedly. 

She hadn’t heard that right, had she? The booze was surely playing tricks with her mind, wasn’t it?The expectant look in Kya’s eyes cleared the doubt that it was accidental, but the flirty smile upon her lips didn’t explain the reasoning. Had she misread the situation?

No, she hadn’t, and that was worse. Kya  _ had  _ been mocking her. And was now expecting something.

“What the fuck?”

Kya shoved her again with her free hand. “Come on, let’s  _ rattle,  _ snake!”

Lin couldn’t believe the woman. The  _ audacity,  _ the lack of shame. In a public space? With the Chief of Police? She shook her head in disbelief, the anger in her veins singing as she clenched her free fist and tried to move away from the other woman. The last thing she needed was a stupid  _ rattle, _ and she was damned if she gave into Kya’s teasing.

“Fuck off, Kya,” she grumbled.

“Oh, come on,” Kya pleaded, tugging at the hand still in hers. “I know you want it, too.”

Maybe she was right. Maybe she  _ did _ . 

Nothing could have prepared Kya for what followed: one angry half-hearted shove from Lin prompted a surprised one from Kya, the action making Lin’s blood boil to the point that she took only one moment to square Kya up from head to toe before her itching hand met with Kya’s face in a sloppy punch, the strength of which might have been bigger if Lin’s actions hadn’t been slowed down by her inebriated state.

“What the  _ fuck,  _ Lin!” Kya screamed as she and Lin staggered in opposite directions. She touched her nose and, though Lin’s punch hadn’t been delivered as well as it could have, her hand still came up red as she pulled it back. “What the  _ actual fuck!” _

“I’m sorry, but you—you asked for this!” Lin shouted back, ignoring the bystanders gathering around them curiously. “You asked to rattle! So I delivered!”

“Delivered? I wanted to fucking rattle, I didn’t want a bloody nose!”

Lin scoffed. “If you didn’t want a bloody nose, why did you want to  _ rattle?” _

Kya fumbled, blinking. She wasn’t sure if Lin was joking, the activity rather out of Lin’s book, or just stupid. She was beginning to suspect the latter, though she’d never indulged the idea. “Well, the music was romantic and—.”

“How is  _ that  _ a setting for a rattle?”

“Excuse me?” Kya arched an eyebrow at the younger woman. “What other setting do you need for a rattle?”

“Possibly none,” Lin pointed out, feeling rather insulted by Kya’s insinuations. “I’m the Chief of Police, it doesn’t do me well to rattle with people all the time.”

“Spirits,” Kya laid a hand on her hip, “I know you haven’t flirted or dated in ten years, but you don’t have to sound  _ so _ affronted by a rattle. Agni, I won’t ask again.”

“As you shouldn’t. Are you implying I got into many rattles before—.”

“Can the two of you stop saying the word  _ rattle _ so much?” 

The two women paused, blinking at the bartender whose despair had made her throw her hands in the air, a pleading look in her eyes. A series of approving murmurs followed, the crowd being much of the same mind. Though they enjoyed the argument, and rather had fun with the idea of two women at each other’s throats, the repeated word was redundant. 

“And could you  _ please  _ take it outside? We don’t like this kind of riff-raff in my bar, alright? I’m all for sorting old issues between friends, or foes, but if you’ve got to do it, find a better place. Sort it all outside.” Her confidence died as she met her gaze with Lin’s and, softly, she added, “Please, Chief.”

The two of them had the decency to look bashful as realization dawned upon them. 

They'd made a  _ scene.  _

A public scene. 

"Sorry, Kimiko," muttered Lin, averting her gaze and fiddling with the hem of her top as she made her way outside as quickly as her legs would allow.

"Yeah, sorry, Kimiko," Kya repeated and lagged behind as Lin disappeared out of the door in a blur. "May I just request some water for my nose? Even with a limp, drunk hand, Lin's fist goes hard on the bones."

"Sure," the bartender fished a flask out and gave it to the waterbender. As Kya grabbed at it, Kimiko whispered, "I'm pretty sure the Chief thought you asked her to fight you, by the way."

"What?  _ Why?"  _

The bartender shrugged. "That's what your slang means here in Republic City." 

Kya gaped. 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Kya found Lin outside, head against the wall and eyes closed. The alcohol was making her swim, head empty and her breath ragged. And, frankly, as any respectful earthbender, Lin  _ hated _ swimming, the lack of control equal to the loss that came with the alcohol too. And she hated  _ that  _ almost as much as she hated embarrassing herself in front of crowds. 

She had a temper, yes, but she had a reputation, too, for fuck's sake. 

"Bumi really planned the long con." 

Lin cracked one eye open, glancing at the waterbender with an unimpressed expression. “I’m sorry?”

“Bumi, my brother.”

The metalbender groaned, closing her eyes again, a disapproving noise escaping her lips. “I know your brother. You’ve got two stupid ones, as I recall.”

Kya couldn’t help but chuckle as she stood next to the shorter woman, a reasonable distance between them lest she scare her. “That I do. But, Bumi played a really sly con.”

“How so?”

“Remember how I told you  _ ‘come on, snake, let’s rattle’ _ and you decked me as though I had insulted you?”

Lin blinked. “Yes, that happened like five minutes ago. I’m not  _ that _ drunk. But how is Bumi involved in you asking me to fight you and then acting affronted when I did?”

Kya rolled her eyes at Lin’s biting accusation. “Well, you know how orange and tiger lilies look quite alike and for an untrained eye like Bumi’s, they might even appear to be the same flower?”

“Uh,” Lin frowned, “aren’t they the same flower?”

“Lin!” Kya feigned a gasp, slapping Lin’s arm playfully. “How dare you! They’re  _ not _ the same flower. The tiger lily has those  _ dots, _ and it means that you’re daring someone to  _ love _ you. It’s a romantic flower and if you give it to someone, it means you’re unsure of their feelings and are giving them an opening. It's, actually, one of  _ the _ most romantic flowers I know, because it shows  _ you _ are open to feelings, but are giving—.”

“Okay, okay, cut it short, lover girl. So these orange flowers with dots signify love. What do the other,  _ identical _ flowers mean, instead?”

Kya shook her head sighing in disbelief, and explained, “The  _ orange _ lilies mean you hate someone.”

Lin stared at the older woman for a few quiet moments, her expression blank, before nodding. “Right. And Bumi…?”

“See, Bumi was unsure if this dude liked him back. And, frankly, it was so obvious he did, but you know Bumi,” she grinned, nudging the metalbender as though they had some secret shared knowledge about the non-bender that she thought Lin ought to laugh about, too. “He’s so self-assured until he has to ask out a man! Anyway, he asked me to help him out and I  _ think  _ he said something rude about my outfit that day, so, to cut it all short… I told him to give that dude orange lilies and told him they meant he was daring him to love him.”

“Oh, no.” Lin  _ was _ somewhat amused as to where this was clearly going, but she couldn’t let the other woman know she'd somehow won, so she pursed her lips.

“Oh, yes!” The tall woman clapped her hands together with a giddy laugh. “That dude got so mad, he waterbended poor Bumi away so hard I had to spend an entire week healing all his wounds.” Kya shook her head as she reminisced the look of betrayal on Bumi’s face, and grinned. “Bumi never forgave me for it, as he did soon enough realize my betrayal. All because  _ mom _ ratted the truth out to him. And, thus, he decided to get revenge.”

“Ah,” Lin hummed, nodding. “Wow.”

“Yeah. So, he told me that phrase I used on you meant ‘let’s dance’.”

Lin’s eyes finally widened in realization. She let out a strangled laugh. “Oh, no. No. It means ‘let’s fight’.”

“Yeah. At least here in Republic City, it does,” Kya agreed. “He played the long con, though, because, you see, that slang does have two meanings. I’ve used it on plenty of women,” Lin arched an eyebrow, “none as beautiful as you, dear, but it worked on them.”

Lin rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help the smirk that danced on her lips. “Bumi knew one day would come that a woman would mistake your invitation to dance for one to a fight. Like I did.” Kya nodded knowingly. “I thought you were asking me to fight you.”

“Yeah. He truly played a good one.”

The metalbender nodded. “You kind of deserved it, though.”

“Agree to disagree. My nose isn’t of the same mind.”

“Shit,” she flailed, glancing at the taller woman with something akin to guilt in her dazed eyes. “I’m sorry. Does it hurt much?”

“Eh,” Kya waved the notion away, a grin gracing her lips to reassure Lin. “I’ve had worse. And I’m a healer, remember? Nothing can hurt me enough.”

“Still. I, uh, don’t like saying it… but I overreacted.”

The waterbender’s eyebrows arched in surprise at the admission. The vulnerability of the younger woman was not something she was used to seeing. She shrugged. “It is what it is,” she grinned. “And I shouldn’t be saying this, what with my bloody nose and all, but I’m sorry, too.”

Lin furrowed her brows, gaping at the older woman. “What for?”

“For making you uncomfortable. I, uh,” she winced inwardly, “I shouldn’t have done that. I was being an ass, and I mean,  _ I  _ know I wanted to, like, get you out of your slump by making you laugh, or something, but you didn't, and I should have just listened to you asking me to stop. So, I’m sorry.”

“Wait, you were trying to…” Lin trailed off, frowning, “cheer me up?”

“Well, it was the least I could do after what my asshole brother did.”

“And the flirting was…” 

Kya smiled, her frame suddenly much, much closer to Lin's. Did Lin want her this close? Did Lin want her not to move away, ever? Kya took her chance. “A bonus, because you're absolutely fucking sexy in your training clothes.” 

“Crap,” Lin slapped a hand to her face, pinching her eyes closed. A flush arose up her cheeks as  _ something  _ fluttered in her chest. “Now I feel even worse about the, uh,” she waved at Kya’s face with a wince, her fingers accidentally brushing the soft skin, “bruise. I'm such an idiot.”

“Don't feel bad! Fuck,” Kya chuckled, “I wish you'd given me a bigger bruise.” Seeing Lin's arched eyebrow, Kya leaned over a little, the distance between them having grown even more significantly smaller, and whispered, “I just think I'd look absolutely amazing with a sexy scar like yours.”

And Lin couldn't help it even if she tried, the words catching her by such surprise she had no control of herself – she laughed. A shy cackle that erupted into a stronger laughter as all the events of the evening came tumbling down her mind. She'd  _ punched _ Kya and here was this crazy woman, lamenting that she hadn't done it harder. 

She shook her head. 

“I'll try to be harsher next time,” she promised solemnly. 

“You better. Although I guess it's only fair that I got the fun trait, the ability to flirt and my charm and you got the scars.”

Lin chuckled some more, her lips curling into a genuine and shocking smile. Perhaps it was the alcohol, or the sound of Kya's voice, or  _ just Kya _ , but she  _ was _ feeling lighthearted. As though she'd climbed, just a little, out of her slump.

She locked her gaze with Kya's, their proximity not lost on her, and smirked, “You're truly obsessed with those scars, aren't you?” 

Kya didn't reply immediately, her fingers coming up to Lin's face to trace the scars instead. Her gaze didn't waver from Lin's one second, warm eyes meeting dazed ones softly. There was a glint to them, now, daring and dangerous and Lin wasn't sure if she wanted to run from or towards it, paralyzed as she was in her spot. “I think,” the taller woman hummed, her gentle touch sending shivers down Lin's spine, “that anyone who  _ isn't  _ obsessed with them is a fool.” 

Words caught in Lin's throat. 

The strokes of Kya's thumb over the bumpy skin were more intimate than she'd allowed anything to be in a long time, as close to her as she'd only allowed a bottle in the recents months and maybe it  _ was _ the alcohol, or the sweet, ambrosiac words, or the way Kya's eyes sparked with something so akin to genuine interest, but she whispered, “Is there anything else about me that you're obsessed with?” 

“Oh,” Kya purred, hand cupping Lin's face. “Your dry humor,” her thumb brushed the corners of Lin's mouth as the younger woman smirked at the odd choice of compliment, “your loyalty and bravery. Your wit, your tits, your bending abilities—.”

“One is not like the others,” she noted with a cocky tilt. 

“Agree to disagree. Behind those great tits,” she motioned at them but let her hand hover, a request for permission in her eyes that Lin accepted in a hitched breath, “there's a great heart, Lin.” 

The metalbender rolled her eyes. “I thought, as a healer, you'd know the heart is  _ between _ the tits.” 

“A little over to the left one,” Kya murmured, the feel of Lin's frantically beating heart against her hand spurring on her actions. “But I quite like them both.” 

“Ah,” Lin tilted her head up, “and what else do you like?” 

“Isn't that enough?” Seeing Lin's raised eyebrow, Kya leaned closer, her thumb tracing Lin's puckered lips. She lowered her head,  _ begging _ for permission, a permission she understood to be granted when Lin tilted her head up even further. Their breaths mingled, anticipation growing. She wetted her lips as her gaze landed on the younger woman’s ones. “Fuck, your lips, Lin, I think I like them—.” 

"Please, take it over to your  _ house,  _ ladies!" Kimiko's voice between them was like a bucket of cold water, the two women jumping from each other as though she'd caught them in a much worse state. "Oh, it's you two, again? Spirits, that wasn't where I thought your argument was going."

"Sorry, Kimiko." 

"Yeah, sorry, Kimiko." 

She waved her rag with a sigh. "Just please don't fuck against this wall."

She didn't wait for their reply, her frame disappearing into the bar as soon as she was done speaking, leaving the two women to stare at each other in embarrassment. 

Where did they go from here? Did they want to continue this? They  _ had _ almost kissed, hadn't they? 

It was Lin who interrupted their silence and surprised them both by blurting a slurred, "You should, uh, come sleep at my place." When Kya widened her eyes at her in shock, she shrugged and mumbled, "I'd like to take this somewhere more private, if you don't mind." 

Oh, Kya didn't. Kya absolutely fucking didn't. 

She closed the distance between them and grabbed the shorter woman's hands, ducking her head down, her lips just mere inches away from Lin's and murmured, "Will I finally make an acquaintance with your lips, then?" 

Lin gulped. "Not here."

Kya didn't tease further. 

There was a promise in that, a reward lurking under the surface and with that at heart, Kya managed to hold her hands to herself all the walk home. She said nothing of interest and only stole furtive glances towards the staggering Lin – how on Earth she hadn't noticed, until they started walking, just how drunk Lin was, was beyond her. 

It was a wonder she’d stayed up at all, or not slurred her sleep more than she had.

Holding that thought, she didn't even think twice about it when two seconds after crossing the porch, Lin collapsed onto her couch. 

It was probably for the best, anyway. 

Clearer heads wouldn't cause either of them any harm. 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Lin opened her eyes to a bright light streaming through her blinds, and immediately shut them again. It was much too bright to deal with the pounding in her skull. She buried herself deeper into her blankets, trying to shut out the outside world, squeezing the pillow her arms were wrapped around in a desperate attempt to prolong her sleep as she willed herself to open her eyes again.

She looked at the clock on her nightstand and shot up, the pounding in her head increasing tenfold in her panic. She threw her pillow to the side as she started to kick off her blankets – and then it sank in, the panic decreasing as she remembered that she had the day off, that she wasn't going to be late at all.

Which was the reason she'd allowed herself to drink as much as she had the night before. 

Of course. 

She let herself hit her mattress with a thud, wincing as the throbbing in her head made itself known again, chiding herself for being so stupid. What exactly had prompted her to drink seven drinks if not more? 

She didn’t remember everything from the night before, anyway. She vaguely recalled Kya helping her get back after she — _Holy fucking_ _Spirits_ , she'd made a fool of herself by _punching the woman in the face._

Lin frowned, then, as she vaguely traced back the moment that Kya had closed her door and then— she'd headed straight for the  _ couch _ . She had definitely, almost certainly, fallen asleep on the couch. But this wasn't it, was it? She looked around with a frown, verifying that she was in her bedroom and not her living room. 

_ Huh.  _

Lin wasn’t the type to sleepwalk. She certainly knew what kind of person she was with alcohol in her system and carefully picking herself up in the middle of the night was not it. Once she laid down to sleep, she passed out cold for hours. 

She felt herself becoming acutely embarrassed as she realized Kya must have moved her (carried her?) to her room so she didn’t sleep on the couch. Did she—  _ yes.  _ Her face felt hot, and if she looked in the mirror, she knew she would be turning a lovely shade of red, as she realized she was, indeed, wearing her pajamas and her teeth were, surprisingly, brushed?

How?

She shook her head, berating herself for it instantly as the headache increased, and she huffed, eyes widening once again as another question popped up. 

Oma and Shu, where  _ was _ Kya? Another search around the room didn’t reveal any answers, and she didn’t know if the waterbender had left her apartment the night before or if she had stayed.

She didn’t know which option was worse. That Kya had left, with so many things remaining unsaid, or that Kya had stayed, with so many things that they had to talk about.

She groaned and forced herself out of bed. It felt quite useless to change into normal clothes, so she simply tied her night robe around her waist and padded softly to the bedroom door.

As soon as she opened it, all doubts she’d had of Kya having left in the middle of the night abandoned her, the worries of the talk arising instead as the waft of the frying oil mixed with its cracklings filled her senses. She rolled her eyes and made her way towards the kitchen, deep down glad that Kya was going through the trouble of—  _ Fuck. _

Kya was indeed preparing breakfast, as Lin quickly assessed when she reached the kitchen, but she had certainly not expected the woman to be wearing nothing but Lin’s undershirt and shorts, her hair tied as well as she could to avoid it reaching the food. Lin couldn’t move another step if she tried, her eyes fixed on the way the undershirt hugged Kya’s taller frame, trailing down to the shorts that clung to Kya’s ass and— she shook her head, fists clenched.

_ Spirits, this woman. _

“This woman what?” A warm blush spread across Lin’s face instantly as Kya turned her head to gaze at Lin with a devilish grin across her lips. “You should learn to keep your thoughts inside, dear. I think they’re slipping out.”

Lin squared her jaw tightly, the teasing humor of the woman waking her out of her reverie. “Yes,  _ dear, _ but you mistook my thoughts for approval, when I was just thinking that you stole my clothes.”

Kya laughed. “I look amazing in them, though, don’t I?” she said and turned around fully to display the front. And  _ oh,  _ Lin was not prepared for the sight of the waterbender’s breasts in her tight undershirt. She gulped and lifted the gaze she hadn’t realized had fallen to meet Kya’s twinkling eyes. “Just as I thought.”

“Shut up, my head hurts too much for this,” she grumbled and walked over to the counter Kya was working on with a deep frown. “Are you trying to make youtiao?”

Kya gasped and slapped Lin’s arm with a rag. “Trying! I  _ am _ making it. And it’ll be delicious.”

Lin raised a challenging brow. “What, can your other girlfriends testify to it?”

“Linny,” Kya tilted her head, taking the bait of the challenge and tugging at it as she murmured, “don’t say things like that. Someone might assume that you’re jealous.” Upon seeing Lin’s affronted glare, she added, “And yes, actually. They all thought  _ everything _ about me was delicious.”

There wasn’t much the metalbender could say to that, so she nodded and hissed when the headache made itself known again. Kya seemed to notice, too, as she rolled her eyes with a worried look upon her face and passed her a glass of  _ something. _ Lin watched it questioningly. “What’s that?”

“A well-known remedy for hangover,” she nudged it impatiently. “Drink it without asking questions about what I put in, will you?” When Lin did as asked, Kya brushed her cheek proudly. “That’s my girl.”

Lin’s eyes widened at the contact and the words and she took a few steps back, the need to establish some distance between them somewhat needed. “I’ll leave you to it, then,” she mumbled hastily, averting her gaze from Kya’s teasing one.

“You won’t offer any help?”

Lin faltered, but the sight of Kya’s shit-eating grin reassured her slightly and she crossed her arms and shook her head. “No, I think I’d just rather watch.”

“Chief!” Kya exclaimed in shock. “Enjoy the view, then. I’ll be sure to make it amazing.”

And, oh, Spirits, Lin wasn’t sure what she was doing. Or  _ why _ she was doing it. She  _ wasn’t _ at ease like this, with the big interrogative hanging between, so why was she acting like nothing had happened, or, Spirits forbid, that something had? Lin didn’t even know which option she preferred.

The cowardly part of herself wanted to just run away from the incoming conversation, and the apologies she’d have to mutter, the explanations she’d have to make up. Another, more hopeful one, however, sung at the idea of Kya perhaps not judging her but being open for whatever that kiss, if they had gone through with it and more, would have meant.

If it had meant anything to the tall waterbender, that is. If it hadn’t just been another night of fun. And that was another thought that terrified her. The idea of her vulnerability being used against her.

Of being used. 

Not that she could begrudge, truly, Kya for wanting to have a fling. Perhaps a fling was all she’d need, too. Something less serious after all those years with… she didn’t want to think about that.

A warm hand on her back broke her out of her thoughts and she subconsciously relaxed under it, thankful, albeit terrified by the effect the older woman seemed to have on her.

“Breakfast is ready,” Kya announced, and there was that: the soft sound of her voice, the way her eyes twinkled in the beaming light of the morning sun, the way her brown hair struck by the first flashes of white shone bright, and Lin sighed.

They ate in silence, both silently aware of what they had to discuss, but too worried to break out of their peaceful, natural routine. It was like a bubble of good thoughts and youtiao broken in half between each other and stolen glances that were never allowed to meet but that sometimes did as they both thought of watching the other’s face simultaneously.

And perhaps Lin was too stubborn and worried and Kya knew it, or the weight on Kya’s chest heaved more, but as soon as the plates clanked against the marble counter, Kya faced Lin and said, “We need to talk.”

Lin winced, inwardly prepared for the speech in which Kya would, albeit gently, admit she was not interested in anything, and that she perhaps blamed the metalbender for all that had gone down.

“Right, let’s get to it, then.”

Kya smiled and, moving to do as much, she invited Lin to sit on the couch beside her. Lin took a spot a tad too far and if she spotted the disappointment in the waterbender’s eyes, she interpreted it as nothing of the sort as her eyes fought hard to stare anywhere  _ but  _ at the beautiful woman. 

“Lin,” Kya murmured, “look at me.”

Lin didn’t need to be asked twice, the look of genuine interest (and worry?) upon Kya’s face allowed her to breathe. She still held her fists clenched tight, though, just to keep her hands as far away from the woman as possible. “So.”

“So,” Kya nodded. “First, I should ask, probably… how much do you remember?”

Lin wanted to lie. It’d be so easy to do. She’d done it plenty of times with Tenzin, with herself. It was how her mother had taught her to deal with relationships, how she had done with her own daughters.

So why did it feel like she was staring into the face of kindness and darkening it with lies, if she did?

“I’m not sure if I remember…” she trailed off, cringing, “everything. But I do remember I, uh, should apologize—.”

“Ah,” Kya slid closer to her to slap her arm playfully, “we’ve covered that already! And I apologized, too, if you recall. You were drunk, and we all make mistakes when we’ve had too much to drink. Besides, I had teased you too much and you misunderstood my intentions, so you decked me in the face. Frankly, I deserved it. Agni,” she laughed, “maybe if more women punched me, I’d finally get those sexy scars you’ve got.”

Lin paused, unblinking, as her cheeks flushed a darker hue, then focused on the awkwardly grinning woman with a firm nod. “Right, yes,” she cleared her throat. “Well, I remember  _ that  _ and then, well, you said some  _ things…” _

“Yes, things.”

“Yes, things, about… me, and I didn’t…”

The waterbender’s face fell slightly as words failed Lin at the worst of times. “I made you uncomfortable,” was Kya’s mumbled realization as she once again allowed distance to creep between them, a smile that looked a tad too forced to be true upon her lips. “Shit, of course. Right,” she heaved a sigh, gaze locking with Lin’s, “Linny, I’m sorry. We’ve both… said and done things yesterday, and we were completely knackered, and it’s fine, it doesn’t have to mean anything. We can just pretend it never happened.”

“Well,” she paused, eyes squinting as she shook her head in confusion, “no, that’s not—I mean, I didn’t—I  _ wanted _ it to mean something!” she exclaimed, then added, “I think.”

Kya narrowed her eyes, playfulness flickering in her gaze again. “The punch, too?”

“No, not the fucking punch, asshole. The other things.” She gulped, closing some of the distance between them to lay a hand on Kya’s, tentative. “The things you said to me. What I meant to say, earlier, was that I didn’t want you to  _ stop.” _

“Oh,” her trademark smirk gracing the beautiful waterbender’s lips, she turned her hand around and laced their fingers together, then leaned forward and whispered, “you didn’t want me to stop talking about your boobs, then?”

Lin groaned. “You’re making me regret this,” but she didn’t retreat her hand, or move away. She slid closer, instead and, try as she might, she couldn’t stop the soft smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth at the sight of the toothy grin that Kya was sporting. “But yes, you may occasionally refer to my breasts.”

“How formal!” she chuckled, then let her free hand cup Lin’s cheek right above the scars to murmur, “And may I do so before or after I finally make an acquaintance with your—.”

She wasn’t allowed to reach the end of that sentence as Lin finally,  _ finally!  _ took the leap and closed the distance separating them, her lips capturing Kya’s ones in a shy kiss. The strangled noise the taller woman made at the contact and the fervor with which she met her lips, her hand cupping Lin’s face harder to direct her where she needed her spurred Lin’s actions and not before long, she was opening her mouth to deepen it and  _ Spirits,  _ had kissing ever felt this good?

She never wanted to stop. Did she need to? 

In a desperate haze to get  _ closer, _ she tugged at Kya’s hair and  _ oh, _ were her ears blessed when the taller woman moaned, the sound so soft and needy Lin knew she’d never get tired of drawing it out. Was this what planning for a future felt like?

_ Wait. _

She parted from the kiss abruptly, her gaze fixing on Kya’s and she almost,  _ almost,  _ gave up on her questions when she saw the dazed look in the older woman’s eyes, noticed how swollen and plump her lips were. She almost just dove right back in, the idea of drowning in this ocean perhaps not too bad, but no.

“Is this a fling? To—to you. Is this a fling?”

Kya captured her lips again, as if that answered the question, then parted to smile. “You’re still fresh from your relationship, so I think you should dictate where it all goes,” she admitted, “but, uh,” she blushed, “I wouldn’t mind seeing where this goes.”

Lin gaped, the honesty catching her by such surprise she couldn’t help but lock her lips with Kya’s in giddy joy, both her hands cupping the woman’s face to bring her as close as possible. 

“And you’re not,” she breathed when they parted again, their breaths still so close they mingled, the thought of which clouded her senses a little before she remembered what she was supposed to say and panted, “you’re not doing this to, to prove something, or well, to just get back at Tenzin for some—.”

Another kiss shut her up, then Kya said, “No. Absolutely not. If anything, I’m just trying to prove to you how sexy and amazing you are. I like you, Lin Beifong.”

“Oh, you like me?”

Kya shoved her shoulder with a chuckle. “Shut up. Yes. I do.”

Lin had to bite her lower lip to suppress the wide grin threatening to spread on her lips. “I like you, too, Kya.”

“Good,” Kya didn’t suppress her shit-eating grin, but as she stared at Lin, a slight frown deepened on her forehead. “And you, you’re not doing this just to rebound from—.”

Lin interrupted her by joining their lips again, drawing a mewl so delicious she decided she  _ could _ get used to drawing these sounds from Kya everyday, and more. When they parted, she confirmed what her kiss ought to have conveyed already, “No. You’re not a rebound. I want this because you’re you. You’re… I want  _ you _ .”

“Damn,” Kya smiled, eyes glistening with something akin to tears. She attempted to hide it by dipping her head down to Lin's, a series of wet kisses trailed first on her cheek and then down on her pulse point. “Now that we’re on the same page,” she whispered, nipping at the soft skin and relishing in the way the younger woman’s breath hitched, so close to a whine, “would you like to take this somewhere more comfortable?” She lowered herself further down and made a point of feigning a groan as she added, “I don’t think my back can take having sex on the couch.”

Lin arched her eyebrows as she brought Kya’s face back up. “Old ass.”

“Oi!”

“And who said we’re having sex?” Seeing Kya move away in feigned offence, she pulled her into another kiss, then mirrored the woman’s earlier actions by tracing a trail down Kya’s neck, her lips drawing out needy sounds, and stopped at her ear to murmur, “Is that why you carried me to my bed tonight? Because of your back? Did you sleep on it, too?”

The waterbender didn’t deign to answer that, because  _ of course _ she’d done both things, and she’d be damned if she didn’t again. 

The ghost of Lin’s breath and the tip of her tongue on the shell of her ear were too maddening to think and the heat pooling between her legs was a clear sign that she did not,  _ at all,  _ intend to think with her head right now. So, she grabbed Lin by the neck and seared their lips together in a way that couldn't convey anything but her need. 

“You, me, bed, now,” she moaned against her lips. “Come on, snake, let’s rattle.”

Lin didn’t even begrudge her the use of the slang again. And if it acquired a new meaning, now, well, that was just for the two of them. 

Or perhaps this, too, was a dance. 

Or a fight.

Who cared?

  
  


* * *

**Author's Note:**

> oof hi this is a crackfic that i treated very seriously, yes. also its my first kyalin fic and while i feel like some of the parts may be ooc, i guess i just decided to go for it anyway
> 
> agn


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